What is happening to the Sixers? The Pennsylvania franchise is currently stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, ranking 14th with barely three victories (for fourteen defeats). Only the Washington Wizards are making worse with two victories. Should we begin to wonder whether Joel Embiid can enable Philly to grab a Larry O’Brien trophy?
The Cameroonian center, awarded NBA Most Valuable Player in 2023, missed the beginning of the 2024/2025 season due to an injury, an issue he had to cope with multiple times in his career. The Pennsylvania franchise moved a lot this summer with the departures from players like Tobias Harris (Detroit) and Cameron Payne (Knicks). In return, the Sixers managed to convince Paul George to join them for a big 2 George/Embiid. One has to admit it does not work for now.
As a matter of fact, the Sixers decided to add up George to their roster, which can be a good idea at some point. Still, George is a good but fragile player who was often injured in the last couple of years. With him and Embiid on the starting lineup, you play with two major players who can miss many games in the regular season and leave the team diminished. Embiid played 39 games in 2023/2024. In the meantime, George played 74 games, which is high. Nonetheless, he played only 31 games in 2021/2022 and 56 games in 2022/2023 with the LA Clippers.
What about the rest of the squad? Kyle Lowry is starting to get old (38 years old), Tyrese Maxey is doing what he can, and French power forward Guerschon Yabusele is playing his cards right off the bench. With only 17% of victory rate, the Sixers are already showing a serious delay. Embiid will be 31 years old next year. Time is flying, and the supreme title has never seemed so far away.